RAMAZZINI, Bernardino.
A Treatise of the Diseases of Tradesmen, shewing the various influence of particular trades upon the state of health; with the best methods to avoid or correct it, and useful hints proper to be minded in regulating the cure of all diseases incident to tradesmen.
London: Printed for Andrew Bell…and Jeff. Wale, 1705
8vo, pp. (xii), 274 [i.e. 264, page nos. 145–154 omitted]. Title within double ruled border. Paper rather browned and foxed (as in the only other two copies that I have had). Contemporary panelled calf, rebacked and tips of corners repaired, endpapers replaced. Early signature of Edward Hendrick on title and of Gaspar Delahoyde, surgeon, 1746, on front pastedown.
FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH of the first book on industrial medicine. See G&M 2121: “Ramazzini wrote the first comprehensive and systematic treatise on occupational diseases. It deals with pneumoconiosis and other diseases of miners, with lead poisoning in potters, with silicosis in stonemasons, diseases among metal workers, and even a chapter devoted to the ‘diseases of learned men’.”
See also Printing and the Mind of Man 170: the book earned Ramazzini the title of “the father of industrial hygiene.” This first English edition is very rare.
£3,500
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